


conflicted

by crunchberry



Series: whispers in the dark [4]
Category: World of Warcraft
Genre: Angst, Bittersweet, F/F, Insanity, Undead Jaina Proudmoore, mentioned events from cinematics, theyre getting better, thros is awful
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-22
Updated: 2021-01-22
Packaged: 2021-03-14 06:41:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,480
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28916265
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/crunchberry/pseuds/crunchberry
Summary: She is nothing to me.Nothing.
Relationships: Jaina Proudmoore/Sylvanas Windrunner
Series: whispers in the dark [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2095113
Comments: 10
Kudos: 75





	conflicted

“Do you accept the judgement of your homeland?”

_ Mother will believe me. _

“... I accept  _ your  _ judgement, Mother…” 

_ Mother and I are all that’s left, she’ll trust me. _

Her head was thrust forward slightly. 

_ What was-- _

An anchor in a gloved hand.

_ \--father’s pendant-- _

“You are no daughter of mine.”

_ Mother-- _

“Do what you will. She is  _ nothing  _ to me.”

_ Nothing. _

\--

“--ina?”

_ You are no daughter of mine. _

“--na?”

_ She is nothing to me. _

“--aina.”

_ Nothing. _

“Jaina--”

_ Nothi-- _

_ “Jaina.” _

She blinked twice, fixing a gaze around the emptied war room of the retaken Lordaeron. She finally registered hands gripping her shoulders, cold hands but familiar all the same.

“Yes?” She turned her attention up to the woman before her, Sylvanas.

Those hands had already left her shoulders before she knew what to do with them. 

“You were silent the entire meeting.” The elf stated bluntly, expression unreadable.

“I wasn’t in the mood for small talk,” Jaina added back dryly, gleaming blue eyes narrowing in defiance. “Now, unless something  _ marginally  _ interesting happened during that damn screaming contest, I’ll pass on this conversation.” 

Sylvanas raised a brow. 

Jaina fixed a glare back.

“You’re awfully prickly today.” The elf finally stated.

“Must be the weather.” Jaina hummed back with no particular humor in her voice, stepping past Sylvanas with an unneeded sigh. 

Sylvanas let her go, deciding it was best not to bring up the fact Jaina had been shaking the whole time.

\--

_ Nothing. _

Jaina’s head panged as whispers and voices poured about her mind, some familiar from her time in Thros, some from times before. 

They all had the same objective; to break her. 

How unfortunate for them that you couldn’t break what had already been broken.

“Either my hearing has bettered in the past week or you’re getting worse at skulking about.” She huffed, not needing to turn around to know Sylvanas had slid out from the shadows. 

“I’d hardly say I’ve become  _ worse.”  _

Jaina gave a soft puff of laughter. 

Leave it to Sylvanas to get her to laugh in any situation; even in death she couldn’t stay mad with the elf around.

“Is this about earlier?” Jaina asked, finally turning to face the elf; she was standing right in front of her and her hands were shifting lightly at her sides. She looked like she wanted to reach out and hold her for some reason. 

“No, but--”

“You aren’t a therapist.” 

Sylvanas gave her an unimpressed look. “Hilarious, Jaina. Leave it to you to point out the obvious.” 

The shorter woman snorted, finally fixing the elf with a barely there smile but it was enough; Sylvanas’ ears twitched upwards in what Jaina could only guess was relief.

“All jokes aside, I was going to give you one of my scouts most recent reports.” Sylvanas murmured, voice now solemn.

“Report? You’ve never bothered before, what changed?” The mage raised a brow in confusion. “Or is this just more of Lyana’s gossip?” 

“You know very well I don’t send Lyana to scout anyone, lest it be some informant as talkative as her,” Sylvanas hummed, giving a brief huff of amusement before sobering. “No, it’s about Kul Tiras.”

Jaina tensed.

Sylvanas tried not to let her ears flatten in sympathy.

“What  _ about  _ Kul Tiras?” The mage asked after a few moments.

“Your mother seems to have found out about Lady Ashvane’s misgivings.” 

“Good, let the bitch rot in hell.” Jaina grunted, pressing past the taller woman and walking down the hall of the palace. 

Sylvanas raised an eyebrow but followed the mage nonetheless.

“She seeks you out.” 

Jaina didn’t pause in her walk, sparing no glance at the elf. “She seeks her  _ daughter  _ out, unfortunately her daughter isn’t about right now.” 

“Will she return soon?” Sylvanas inquired, watching Jaina beside her.

“You tell me.”

\--

_ Your loving mother will never forgive you, murderer. _

A pressure fell to her shoulder.

_ Murderer. _

She turned to face it.

_ Murderer. _

Her father’s ghostly face stared back.

_ Never forgive you. _

She lurched backwards, hand lifted with a sigil half-drawn.

_ “Proudmoore!”  _

A hand gripped her casting arm tightly.

She looked up to gaze into blood-red eyes.

Sylvanas.

_ Then who? _

She turned forward and found Baine’s shocked gaze fixed upon her.

“Are you so quick to betray your own?” Sylvanas asked bluntly, though Jaina found barely concealed concern in her voice. 

Jaina yanked her arm from the elf’s, blinking back heat in her eyes. “It was nothing.”

“You nearly blasted Bloodhoof with a spell.” Sylvanas deadpanned.

“I said it was nothing,  _ Warchief.  _ Leave it be,” Jaina hissed, the sigil dissipating with a wave of her hand. “Forgive me, Baine.”

“There is nothing to forgive, My Lady…” The tauren whispered gently.

Jaina gave a nod but turned away anyway, heading down the darkened hall with quick silent steps.

While she stormed away her ears picked up murmured words.

“Has something happened?” 

Baine.

“I’m not sure.”

Sylvanas.

_ Murderer. _

She clenched her jaw and tried to discern whether it was tears of anger or sadness streaming down her face.

\--

Sylvanas was used to Jaina’s temper, she’d dealt with it in life and now in death at times.

What she wasn’t used to was the quick change in them.

While Jaina had recovered from her catatonic state at which they found her in Thros, she still drifted to an entirely different place during some days.

Her body stood before them but her mind was locked away someplace far, someplace bitter, someplace dark. She knew this just by looking at the mage.

Her eyes would refocus and she would tense before her dull eyes filtered with resignation and she lost all connection to reality. 

Like a husk.

“Jaina?”

The mage stared straight ahead, eyes half-lidded and head nearly tipping downwards.

“Jaina.”

She made no indication she’d heard.

Sylvanas touched her shoulder hesitantly.

The mage flinched back with an unheard gasp, blinking a few moments before slipping into a stiff posture.

“What.” She muttered.

Sylvanas watched those dull eyes stare up at her with a feigned annoyance; she thought she was fooling her.

All Sylvanas saw was defeat.

\--

“When did you stop hearing  _ him?”  _

Sylvanas turned her head to gaze at Jaina; she looked desperate.

“Pardon?”

Jaina blinked a few times. “I--when-when did you stop hearing  _ him?” _

Sylvanas watched the woman blink and look about, like she was realizing where she was.

“After he’d been destroyed.”

Jaina swallowed. 

“Well, that’s bullshit then. He’s been  _ dead  _ for well over a f--fucking year and the others are still fucking alive.” She hissed, looking up at the ceiling with a sigh.

Sylvanas said nothing.

“I-I  _ killed  _ him so why do I  _ see  _ him?” Jaina choked out, voice carrying into dry laughter. “I’m the daughter of  _ nothing,  _ Sylvanas. I’m the Grand Admiral’s  _ Bane. Why  _ the fuck do I still hear them all?!” 

The elf had barely taken a step towards Jaina before the mage’s eyes caked with tears and her voice broke halfway through a cry.

“He’s  _ everywhere.  _ They’re  _ always  _ around. I can’t get them to shut up or go away and it’s--” She gasped out an unneeded breath at sudden pressure around her.

Sylvanas was holding her.

Sylvanas Windrunner, Banshee Queen, Dark Lady and Warchief of the Horde was holding  _ her. _

Jaina relaxed. 

This felt familiar, like they’d done it before. 

“You’re hugging me.” She whispered.

“... I’m aware.” Came the other’s reply.

Jaina reluctantly settled into the embrace, her voice regaining slight composure whilst she relished in the similar coolness of Sylvanas’ skin.

It felt like something she used to wake up to, an apprentice and a general.

An elf with bronze skin and a wide grin sliding into bed with an apprentice mage in the quarters of Dalaran. 

Like a dream.

“You know… you’re not evil like  _ they  _ all said.” Jaina murmured, giving a huff of somber laughter. 

Sylvanas had since learned that  _ they  _ referred to the voices Jaina heard or the Alliance themselves, so she simply tightened the hold and hummed.

“At the end of the day, I think you’re just conflicted--you’re a conflicted person, not a  _ bad  _ person.” Jaina murmured, arms slowly lifting and wrapping around Sylvanas’ neck.

The elf had always marvelled at how easily Jaina could flip the topic of conversation even when she felt at her lowest; she was no less intrigued now.

“Am I? And what, Proudmoore, am I conflicted about?” Sylvanas whispered, letting her chin rest atop a head of pure white locks. 

Jaina just smiled albeit waveing and nestled closely to the taller woman.

\--

_ “Y’know, you’re a very conflicted person, Ranger-General.” A girl with blonde hair and gentle blue eyes murmured, grinning up at the elf before her. _

_ “Am I? Pray tell, what I’m conflicted about?” The elf whispered back with a hint of a smile as she leaned closer. _

_ Their lips were a breath apart. _

_ “Mh, who knows?” The girl whispered back and pulled the other close. _

  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> y'all thought i was done? 
> 
> *evil laughter*


End file.
